Interacting global change drivers suppress a foundation tree species.

Ecological stress caused by climate change, invasive species and anthropogenic disturbance is driving global environmental change, but how these stressors interact to impact native species are poorly understood. We used a field experiment to test how two stressors (drought and plant invasion by Imperata cylindrica) interacted to determine the effects of a third stressor (fire) on a foundation tree species (Pinus palustris). The invasion combined with prolonged drought resulted in shorter trees than invasion alone. The invasion also resulted in 65% greater fuel loads, four times taller flames, greater maximum temperatures and longer heating duration. Consequently, nearly all tree mortality occurred due to a synergistic interaction between the drought + invasion treatment and fire, where invasion caused taller flames that impacted trees that were shorter due to drought. These findings demonstrate that synergy amongst ecological stressors can dramatically impact native species, with significant implications for forecasting the effects of multiple stressors under global change.

Populations of a widespread invader and co-occurring native species vary in phenotypic plasticity.

Phenotypic plasticity can promote plant invasions and enhance impacts on native species, but little is known about variation in plasticity among invader populations compared with native species. Variation in plasticity among invader populations could inform more precise predictions of invader spread and impacts across heterogeneous resource environments. We used a common garden experiment with sun and shade treatments to test for variation in plasticity among 12 populations of an invasive grass (Imperata cylindrica), and to determine whether the invader exhibited greater plasticity than six native species that co-occur in the Southeast USA. Principal component analysis revealed that invader populations from different native ranges consistently varied from each other and native species in traits linked to more favorable phenotypes under resource limitation. Overall, the invader exhibited greater plasticity than native species did, as demonstrated by higher plasticity index values for traits such as plant height, leaf mass ratio, and root : shoot ratio. Variation in phenotypic plasticity among invader populations suggests the potential for evolution of plasticity, and greater plasticity of invader populations than native species may underlie invader dominance. Differences in plasticity among populations appears to play an important role in predictions of the spread and potentially the impacts of invasive species.

Reduction of pupil size and halos with minus lenses after laser in situ keratomileusis.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the amount of miosis induced by over-minused lenses and to assess subjective reduction of halos following laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) with such lenses. METHODS: Part I: Infrared pupil diameter was assessed in 14 patients who had not had ocular surgery. The accommodative/miotic reflex was stimulated with concave trial lenses in -1.00-D increments up to -4.00 D while viewing the 20/40 acuity line. Part II. Subjective halos around a distant light were assessed in 14 patients following LASIK for myopia, with and without a -1.00-D lens over manifest refraction. RESULTS: Part I: 100%, 79%, and 64% of patients clearly saw the 20/40 line with a -1.00-D lens, -2.00-D lens, and -3.00/-4.00-D lens, respectively. Mean pupil diameter decreased by 0.2 mm with the -1.00-D lens (P = .02), 0.5 mm with the -2.00-D lens (P = .003), 0.9 mm with the -3.00-D lens (P = .008,), and 1.1 mm with the -4.00-D lens (P = .008). Part II: 11 of 14 patients (79%) noticed a decrease in the size of the halo (30% average reduction) when over-minused by -1.00 D. CONCLUSIONS: Pupil diameters and halos decreased with a -1.00-D overcorrection in patients following LASIK. Patients with pupil-dependent night halos after LASIK may benefit from mildly over-minused lenses.